'Coaching Confidential' delivers stories from inside NFL circles

Gary Myers interviewed more than 20 NFL heach coaches for his book "Coaching… (Crown Publishing )

If you’re looking for an intriguing book for an NFL fan, check out the recently released “Coaching Confidential” by Gary Myers, which examines the high-pressure lives of coaches in the league.

Through interviews with more than 20 head coaches, Myers provides a behind-the-scenes look at the teams and personalities of the nation’s No. 1 sports league.

Among the anecdotes:

--Denver quarterback John Elway offering in 1993 to pay Mike Shanahan $300,000 out of his own pocket to come back and coach the Broncos. Shanahan decided to stay in San Francisco.

-- Shanahan, then 49ers offensive coordinator, instructing Steve Young to fire a pass at Al Davis when the Raiders owner meandered over to San Francisco’s side of the field before a game in 1994. Young wound up drilling Davis in the leg, and later penned him a letter of apology.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft never wavered in his support of Bill Belichick when the Spygate scandal rocked the Patriots in 2007. At one point, Kraft had this exchange with his coach, who had already won three Super Bowls.

"How much did this help us on a scale of 1 to 100?" Kraft said.

"One," Belichick replied.

"Then you're a real schmuck," Kraft said.

Myers, a respected pro football writer for more than three decades, has the access and insight that makes this more than a typical NFL book.